Be sure to include your name, daytime phone number, address, name and phone number of legal next-of-kin, method of payment, and the name of the funeral home/crematory to contact for verification of death.

The Royals hit fewer home runs than anyone in baseball last year. Their leadoff hitter has a .299 on-base percentage, and their No. 3 hitter had five home runs last year. They employ three closers — four, if Luke Hochevar gets back to his 2013, pre-surgery self — and three Gold Glove winners and at least two more who could.

My lawn is pretty terrible, if you must know. There are random spots of dirt and other stretches where the grass is brown for no apparent reason, like someone spray-painted chunks of grass to make it look like sand. First, if any of you have advice, don’t be shy. Second, my lawn reminds me of Big 12 basketball.

No matter what, this tournament will be about the Kentucky Wildcats. If they win, the case will be made that this is the best college basketball team ever. If they lose, the talk will be about OMG KENTUCKY LOST.

I’m spending these days between rounds of basketball here in Arizona to write about the Royals, but we all know what today is about. I mean feel free to read my column about the omnipresent Alcides Escobar, but really, we all come here to talk hoop.

So last night, shortly after Monte Morris hit the jump shot at the buzzer that sent Iowa State past Texas and into today’s semifinals, I grabbed my bag and headed out to my car. I see two guys, about my age, in ISU shirts, drunk off Morris’ shot and surely something a bit stronger, jumping up and down and hugging each other and screaming about their Cyclones.

There are no indications that the NCAA’s investigation into potential impermissible benefits for Kansas freshman Cliff Alexander or his family is gaining any sort of traction or moving at a pace that will allow him to play again this season.

The Chiefs are soon to employ a wide receiver in Jeremy Maclin who caught an NFL touchdown in 2014 so, you know, eat it, haters. These things don’t happen enough in sports, when a move that seems so obvious and important to the team you follow actually ends up happening.

Rules are fine and necessary but the NCAA has long lost the benefit of the doubt in situations like Cliff Alexnader’s. Admittedly, we still don’t have a lot of information to go on the situation, but the NCAA has mismanaged itself into a position where virtually everything it does is justifiably questioned.

This is that time of year where Joe Lunardi brings his Gene Keady hairdo to your television screen during every ESPN game, making up news by telling you which team is out and which team is in, which team has a No. 2 seed, which is a No. 3 seed, and always couching it by telling you this is how it is at the moment, not necessarily an hour from now or tomorrow or heaven forbid next Sunday when it counts.

The Royals can talk all they want about Bubba Starling possibly going back to Class A Wilmington as not being a bad sign, and Starling is a special case, but if he doesn’t progress this year it will be even harder to preach the patience stuff.

I’ve always been a proponent of court-storming. I see it as part of what’s unique about college basketball, and I never want to be the old middle-aged guy telling college kids they can’t have fun. But it does need to be safe

The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers are jointly investigating the possibility of sharing a stadium in Los Angeles, which could give the KC Chiefs a pair of road games in the same stadium every year.

In Sam Mellinger’s latest feature in which he asks for just a few minutes of your time to waste on sports and other very important stuff, he discusses Alex Rodriguez’s apology, the Chiefs’ draft strategy and more.

So, last night, two things happened in college basketball that are worth talking about here for a second. We’ll start with the local, and by now you’ve probably seen how the Kansas-West Virginia ended.

Today's Circulars

Aboutthis blog

I've been at the Star since 2000, first covering local high schools, then major league baseball and now the columns since 2010. Kansas City is home to me -- my wife and our crazy dog, too -- and hopefully that helps. I've covered everything from the Super Bowl and Olympics to high school swimming and dirt track racing, always trying to tell the best stories with the best insight. This corner of the internet will be a mix of analysis, serious conversation, nonsense and behind-the-curtain scenes on the best days. Hopefully we can keep it fun and interesting. Thanks for reading.